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| June 10, 2006 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1427 |
Calm and quiet as English fans pour in
FRANKFURT, June 9: England fans took over one of Frankfurt's main squares on Friday as thousands swarmed into Germany's financial capital for their World Cup opener against Paraguay on Saturday.
Two open-top London buses were parked in Roemerberg square, huge red and white St George flags adorned the pavements and inflatable footballs were being kicked around.
Deafening choruses of some of England fans' favourite anthems boomed out, although so far they had refrained from songs referring to World War Two.
The mood was raucous but good natured, with Germans, Paraguayans, Australians and Croatians all enjoying some refreshing beers in the numerous pavement bars.
A Greek national was arrested after pulling a knife on an England fan in an isolated incident, but police said there had been no trouble otherwise.
Frankfurt police chief Achim Thiel said on Friday the man had been arrested on Thursday after a confrontation in a pub but that no one had been hurt.
Some 30,000 England fans are expected to descend on Germany's fifth largest city.
“It's a party atmosphere, it's a carnival, the Germans have made everybody welcome,” said Cristian Gladdish, from Canterbury, brandishing an inflatable World War Two Spitfire.
“So far it's all be good natured, but then it should because it's a game of football after all.”
“I'm so nervous, I've not been sleeping properly as the day gets nearer,” said Frankfurt resident Sebastien Roth.
“There's loads of English here. Like the stereotype some are fat and drinking a lot of beer, but they're not aggressive.”
Around 5,000 Paraguay fans are expected to be at Saturday's match. “We're very happy to be here,” said Pedro Vera from Ascunsion. “There are too many England fans, but we will try to make as much noise as them.”
British and German authorities say they have worked at an unprecedented level to ensure the World Cup passes off smoothly.—Reuters
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